Cog track for moving structures



R. E. 'SHEAL'.

00G TRACK FOR MOVING STRUCTURES. APPLICATION FILED Nov.-|2. 1921.

1',4s5,3 1=1.. PatentedNov.14, 1922 2 SHEETS-SHEU 1.

Fig.1.

' no" l3 'a INVBNTOR.

Robert E. 5 had A TTORNE Y.

R. E. SHEAL.

COG TRACK FOR MOVING STRUCTURES. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 12. 1921.

1,435,341. Patented Nov. 14,1922

2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

min. lenqih INVENTOR s Robert E. Shecd' A TTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 14, 1.922,

. .noBnRr-nfsnnlan, F, CLEvE eNDIo Io.

' coo; TRACK roe i/rovine srnuoruans. T i i I Application filed November This invention relate's to cogtracks for I moving massive structures and was "developed with specialre'ference to hoistingand conveying machinery of the traveling crane type, known as bridges, for handling bulk materials,such as ore, coal, limestone,fetc., although equally applicable-to cog or rack drive railroads of all types, ship towing devices, ship building cranes, or all othertypes of traveling. structures, or apparatus; of a similar nature "wherein a' cog or racktype of drive-is used as'a means of propulsion.

l The objects of'th'einvention are the 'provision of a rack or cog-track, whichshall be inexpensive in construction, made up in sectional lengths, each section anchored or tastened at, or near, its ends to'the foundations anuso arranged that the parts or sections of the rack or cogetrack shall always work by tension andv never by compression, and wherein new and ingeniousprovisionsv are made to compensatefor i the thermal con traction, or expansion of these parts orjse c tions, while further objectsand advantages will become apparent'as' ceeds.

Ajn ore handling bridge is'chosen; for purposes of illustration sinceit'exhibits to' a marked degree the peculiar requirements'of the problem although I do not restrict my the description proimprovements thereto since: certain other. structures devel'opthe same-problems no .a

more or less limited degreef' An illustrative embodiment of my invention is diagrammatically shown'in th'e drawings accompanying and forming a. part ofmthis application wherein Fig. l'is' an end view of an'ore bridge embodying my improvements Fig. 2

is an enlarged'detail side elevation of the rack; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the rack;

Fig.4' is a detail section correspondingto are diagrammatic views trates a modification.

the line 4-4l in Fig. 2; and Figs. 5" and .6 p while Fig. 7 illus- Describing the parts reference charactors- 1" represents the foundatiomg 2 the 12/1921. ill no. 514,583.

real carrying track, 3 the trucks,fand' one leg suitable. .tru ssl5, supporting a'gtrans verse,

E. SHEAQa. or tower of'an ore bridge, These ma be two or-more1n number and connected by a.

{track 6 along which runs a car or trolley? '(notshowri). Truss 5is sometimesas much as several hundred feet long'and the bridge I i I over one hundredfeet high, while t he'weight of the traveling structure frequently totals,

many hundred tonsf" A plurality arrear i on which the bridge travels, are frequentlyfi-.

i required at eachleg or tower, and mounted on these tracks and supportingrthe bridge towers orlegs, are sultabletruckswhich have "a nu'mbernf wheels eachywhileg the' wind pressureupo-n a large s ze bridge isso enormous that notwithstanding"its great weight, itis not suflicient to lock'f-the carry.- r f mg-wheel's, but in addition thefbridge cit-the 1 'mechanlsm for traveling-same. must be ,se-.

curelyanchoredlor locked to the foundation.

Also the momentum of the bridge whenoiice set in motion is so greatjthat' even at very low speed oftravel, itis likelyto disregard all anchoring orlockingprovisions,should I it become accidentally started'.

In order 'to maintain-a travelingstructure ofthisjnature' 'inder control and also-topro- I pel it from place to place, the suggestion has.

been made to employ racks or cog-tracks,

' one under each legof the bridge,"incombin arm with pinions meshing therewith;- ,ThisF' raises the problems of strength, weightjan chorage and expansion. The tracks or runways'for such bridges are usually straight,

althoughithy may Jbemade curved ifnecessityf demands, and maybe of any length,de-

pending upon "the travel-"required: These I tracks or runways are exposedto the extreme temperatures of both summerand winter while the" foundation v structure's carrying these'tracksmay be more or less embedded in i the ground and thus protected fr0m; exi treme variations o'ftemperature it be at tempted to propel the'bridgevby using the rack' or "cog-track in; compjres'sion, a very heavy" and complicated rack structure will result; whereas, if the rackb soanchored to the foundationas'to always remain in ten-i sion'underilo'a'd. the sizeandwei-ght of parts can be materially decreased, resulting in a considerable savingin cost of, installation; as a .matt-er'of constructiom 'it is desirable to manufacture. these racks in convenient sec tional lengths.- A rack-madeup in sectional lengths, and which must act in f tension -1n carrying the loads,must necessarily be fastened at the extremities in order to prevent compression or buckling in the rack, and further one oi": the advantages of mak ng the rack in comparatively short sections is, that the compensation for thermal ch anges of length can more easily be taken care of with less slack in the indii idual rack sections -tively short sections and securing said secions to. suitable anchorages secured in the fiOllllClEltlOIhfinfl in such a manner that each rack section shall always be secured against longitudinal motion along; the track at the forward end only and loose at-the opposite end; the sections being suiiicientl short, as

compared with the pitch of the teeth or pins in the rack, so that themaximum movement between adjacent members or sectionsof the rack will not prevent the gear teeth of the driving mechanism, which is attached to the bridge, from properly engaging the rack test-has they .pass from one rack section to another. In addition. I preferably a-flord all the teeth or pins in the rack a limited.

amount of pla y so that unavoidable outdoor variations, or inaccuracies, due to/installation of racks, or otherwise, maybe compensated. 1

For example, 1 make the rack in sections, preferably'oi plain-steelside bars 10 of rec tangular section, here shown about '2 inches thick and about 9 inches wide by about 40 feet in length. However, the thickness, width or length of these side bars Hlaff] be variedt'o suit the required conditions, or the side bars may be made up of several hairs placed side by side in tead oi the single'bars' shown; i--ilso other types of side bars, such :rolled angle-or channel shapes he used in place of rectangular bars, it so desired These side bars are shown set on edge, arranged in pairs a sufli'cient distance apart to accommodate the driving-rack pinion of T the bridge travel mechanism. these side bars being connected together by means o fsteelpin-s ll of suiiicientdiameter to provide strength for carrying the tooth load and allowing for wear :t'rom'the driving rack pinion; these pins project through regictering holes in the bars, each hole being made slightly larger than the diameter-oi? thepin. The abutted ends of adjacent bars extend between spaced anchor plates 13; plates being deeply embedded and an chored to the foundation 1 onwhich the track 21s supported These anchor plates are formed with holes 14:, registering with holes 12; holes 14 being made somewhat larger, either circular, slotted or oblong, for example, inches diameter in the anchor platesand 4l-iI1Cl16S diameter in the rack side bars; these anchor plates receive the cross pins 15 of the rack, which are the same Clldll'ltl' as the other pins, the only difference being that they are longer in order to project through the anchor plates.

ion 20 carried by the bridge or other inor able structure, having; a similar distance or pitch between ad acenq-teeth. Thobars lO preferably overlap the-anchor plates, here shown as two holes each, and the barsare sufliciently relieved at their ends to free the adjacent bars. l Vith the dimensions above iven, each raclr section, of about 40 feet length, may have a longitudinal movement, with respect to ltS'3J11Cl1-OI','0f approximately l; inch, and this movement may vary, 'depending upon temperature changes relative to foundation and inaccuracies due to erection. in erection of'the anchors 13 onthe foundations, and depending :upon temperature conditions time of erection, the a'ne chore, with their'enlarged. pin holes, would. be usually located so that the rack sections niayexpand or contraoh-dueto temperature, and still allow looseness or'treedo'in of -rach pins in the anchor holes at opposite endof each section fromthat which carries the load, the rack'section being in te sion under the applied load from th bridge travel mechanism. y

Whichever wa-y'the rack section be moved, it will always be in tension,'and the distance between the centers of theanchor holes must at all times exceed the distance between the end pins-oi the rack sections. This excess will be minim-um when the temperat 're is maximum and Vice ve'rsa. In order 'to enable such a movement of the rack as always to enable it to act in tension under load the lost motion at each end ofeach rack section must be -'equ-al to at least the manimuni thermal expansion of that section. This is diagrammatically indicated in 5. In casethe end rack pins are tightly fitted in the anchors and. the lost motion for taking care oftemperature is provided in the ra cl: sections {by means of slotted. or enlarged. holes iso stated,'aii'dasindicatedin-"Figdti. As the l'liOVing structure travelsandTthe driving pinion moves into engagement With each, new racksectionfthe first effect is to tend to draw this section over the foundation slightly so as to bring it into tens on, this" occurring before the pinion teeth h ave finally 1 left the'precedi'ng rack; so that-"the action is Without shock or inequalit in travelflof rack "pinion as it rolls in the rack; if the moving-structure be reversed in time; the first iefi'ect will be to 'tendto' slide the rack section lengthivays soastoibring it under to revolve in the side barslO of the rack tension in the opposite direction against its anchor, "which is "forward ofthetrav'el'bf the structure. s k

In order to prevent excessive, Wear on the rack pins 11 and l5;and driving pinion: 20,

which is attachedtothemoving structure,"

and also .to simplify the construction, installation and maintenance or repairs to rack or cog track, I constructthe rack or cog track so that the :rack pins 11- and 115 may be free When the rack pins are under load fromthe driving pinion 20 the rack pins being confined from movement endWi-seby means of suitable devices, such as cotter pins 16,61

otherwise. In order to accomplish this and I v I the combination, with a movable structure permit the rack pins to revolve slightly in the rack side bars, I make the holes the side bars slightly larger than the diameter of the pins; in case the rack side bars are not of sufficient thickness to provide suflicient bearing against Wear of the rack pins'as shown at 10 in Fig. 7, I enlarge the holes in such side bars and insert bushings 18oF 'side bars may be employed.

hardened steel or other. suitable material, properly pressed or otherwise secured] in place in the rack side vbars. Any suitable provisions for 'lubricatingythe rack pins Where thev revolve Within the bushings or i I do not restrict myself to uses, designs or arrangements, except as recited inmy claimsQ H Having thus described myinvention What I claim is:

1. In a device of the character described, a the combination, with a movabl'e structure and a driving device carried thereby, of a foundation vsupporting said structure, and

a rack carried by said foundation andmeshing a lost-motion connection 'betweeneach section and each of its anchors Which permits structure -supported saidl structure driving device I towardwhich said'struotiiie s noved; 1

"in comb .tions, and means forsec'uri'ng each section to;

cured to said foundationilat" longitudinally 7 5. Ina device oft-he character described, the combination it and. a (lIlVlIlgiPllllOIl carried thereby,of a

j bushings rigidly seated in said bars and ro--" ta tablyreceiving said pi'ns the'ilength ofsaiding With said device, said rack and founda-p tion having unequal thermal expansion and said rack'being made of relativelymovable f "said, side bars,

a rangeofmo enie'nt greats han'themaxi? i e in en'gth "ofsa'id secs I undati n, 's'a-i 'sece 0 arranged tha't rack 'parallelfto[the N I v a v driving dejvicecarried -by" said'structure an saidrack', said. rack being muse relatively movable seo v tions, ai dnieans ionanchbring ieach end o'ifi eachpsectione aii stlongitudinal.movement, th r being alostmotion connection'hetweej each ection a'nd each Ta'n'choi", 'and 'suc'h con nections being so 4 arranged that the longitua. dina1 movement of each section due to 1 the limited solely at? the "end the described;

i Tmov'able's'tr' 'rackipar t; iSl lei- 2a; r mm me tioned structure, a driving device carried by said" structure and engaging said rack, said rack being-made ofa pluralityof individual sec said runway at its' opposite ends, said meansfl the end. so.='-secured lbeing theone toward, which said structure is being moved. 14. In device-of the character described,

10 0 and a driving pinion carried thereby, of a foundation, runway carried by said foundationsupporting said movable struc- H true, a Track supported-bysaid foundation parallel to the course o'fmovementof sa d ,10'5' structure and meshingryvith said driving pinion,,said rack comprising a plurality of segments, anchoring members rigidly se- I spaced points, said rack segments lapping by "1'1 0] said anchoringmembers and fastened there to, and meansoverlapping the; adjacentfends of; said segments andconnecting them [together. 11a I movable structure foundation sup; orting saidhinovable struc V ture, and.araclr suppo'rted p'arallel to-the. course of movement of said. structure, said 12.0 rack including sidebarsand cross pins, d

bushings being greater th'anfthe thiclrness "of I;

fo ndat'ir'in supporting .said movable ,struc I I tu-re, a rack supported by said foundation parallel to the course movement of said structure and inesl ingwith said driving pinion, said rack comprising a plurality of apertured side bars arranged endl to end in pairs and transverse pins located in said I apertures, and apertured tie plates overlapping the ends of said side bars and securing the same together, certain of said tie plates being rigidly anchored to said foundation.

7. In a deviceof the character described, the combination Witha movable structure and. a driving pinion carried thereby, of a foundation, a runway carried by said foundation sinpporting said movable structure, a, rack supported by said foundation parallel to the course of movement of said structure and meshing with said driving pinion, said rack comprising a plurality of apertured sidebarsarranged endto end in pairs and tie plates overlapping" the ends of Said side bars having registering apertures, and transverse pins located in all saidapertures and constituting teeth for said rack and fastenings ior the segments thereoflcertain olsaid tie plates being r gidly embedded in said foundation, Y

8. In a device of the characterdescribed,

the combination With a movable structure and a driving pinion carried thereby, of a foundation, a runway carried by said foundation supporting said movable structure, a rack supported 'by said foundation parallel to the ourse of movement of said structure and -meshing with said driving and the apertures in the ancl iored tie plates being larger tlianthe apertures, in said side bars to allow tor thermal expansion. v V In testimony whereof, I hereunto atiix my signature,

' ROBERT E. SHEAJJ 

